Technical Staff

Robert J. Powers

Executive Principal Analyst

Dr. Powers has over thirty years’ experience as an aerospace systems analyst. His early career in aerospace engineering involved the development and testing of rocket motors, where he gained considerable expertise in test and evaluation (T&E) and infrared engineering. His later work, after transitioning to aerospace systems analysis, has involved a wide range of technologies and disciplines. This work, spanning over 20 years, includes: booster/interceptor modeling, reliability analysis and trade studies; sensor modeling—EO (Pan and IR, FLIR, IRST, LADAR) and RF (Doppler Radars and SAR); modeling and assessment of airborne and overhead architectures: platforms, orbits, and sensor performance; experimental design and analysis applied to both M&S and T&E; as well as information science: value and utility assessment, plus information fusion using Bayesian networks. For ten years, he worked as an image scientist in support of an intelligence community quality-control center. This work involved designing image quality assessments and developing quality and utility metrics both standard imagery and Full-Spectrum GEOINT (FSG) products. His more recent work involves modeling sensor discrimination performance in support of overhead architecture trade studies; in related work, he has been investigating techniques to task sensors based upon uncertainty reduction and potential information value. Dr. Powers also developed and teaches the GeoNetica course module in IDI’s Bayesian net course.

Powers, LtCol Robert J, “Value of Modeling and Simulation in the Development and Management of Automated Information Systems: Minimizing, Risk, Cost, and Schedule Impact,” a report prepared for the Chief of Review, Test, and Evaluation, Defense Logistics Agency, 68 pages, October 1997.